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Download the Parkinson’s app endorsed by José Mourinho

PD in Practice

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 18 April 2018

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The legendary football coach, José Mourinho has endorsed an app-based European research project that seeks to improve life for people with Parkinson’s through analysis of behavioural data

The i-PROGNOSIS research project captures the data of those who have signed up to its mobile app, using the information gained to try to improve the way Parkinson’s is managed by fostering new health practices based on the technology.

In a promotional video, Mourinho asks viewers: “Do you know that by using your smart phone you can contribute to the research of early Parkinson’s disease detection?”

Since its release in April 2017, 749 Europeans have downloaded the i-PROGNOSIS mobile app – available for free on the Google Play Store – and provided consent to participate in the GData collection study.

Researchers hope the project will empower people with Parkinson’s, improve their quality of life as the disease progresses and reduce the need for hospitalisation.

People over 40 can participate in the study, whether they have Parkinson’s or not. All data and information obtained through the i-PROGNOSIS mobile application is stored securely on the Microsoft Azure Cloud, while app users still own and control their data.

The research study has been approved by ethical committees in all countries where the app is available – Germany, Greece, Portugal and the UK – allowing for large-scale data collection.

The app logs a number of different user characteristics including voice data when the user is talking on the phone; timing and pressure data when the user types using the i-PROGNOSIS keyboard; location data periodically throughout the day; and facial expression data from front-facing camera photos.

Watch the i-PROGNOSIS video below.

The first evaluation of the i-PROGNOSIS mobile app yielded promising findings, with satisfactory results arising from both the technical and user acceptance evaluations. The purpose of the app was considered useful by participants in the study, who declared it easy to set up and use. Yet participants’ in some countries highlighted the importance of being kept informed about privacy protection and of raising awareness of the app among healthcare professionals, to ensure their inclusion in these novel processes for early Parkinson’s detection.

i-PROGNOSIS said the coming year would be dedicated to the analysis of datasets collected through the app. Data collection will intensify with the release of the app in new countries and the development of an iOS version. A new research study – the SData study – will lead to further clinical evaluation of the i-PROGNOSIS app’s potential to detect early Parkinson’s symptoms, and extend data collection by including new data sources.

The evaluation will involve the clinical assessment of a subset of i-PROGNOSIS users – both people living with Parkinson’s and those without the condition – by medical experts from the i-PROGNOSIS consortium. In addition, smartwatch devices will be given to a subset of users to provide additional data regarding hand tremor, sleep, movements linked to food intake and their relationship with the condition.

IN THE NEWS

A study published in the ‘Journal of Clinical Investigation’ has suggested mechanisms that lead to Parkinson’s in adulthood, may begin much earlier than previously thought. The study, carried out by Northwestern University, Illinois, US, researched movement disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 by genetically engineering a mouse to mirror the human disease. Researchers found that altering circuity in the cerebellum – an area of the brain that controls movements – set the stage for later susceptibility to neurological disease. Professor Puneet Opal, who worked on the study, said: “This is the first discovery of alterations in an adult-onset spinocerebellar disorder that stems from such early developmental processes. “This may well be generalisable to a whole host of other diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.”

Global Kinetics receives vital funding

Australian-based health company Global Kinetics has received a $AUS 7.75 million investment from the Australian Federal Government’s Biomedical Translation Fund. The investment will be used to commercialise its Parkinson’s KinetiGraph – a smartwatch-style device that continually tracks the involuntary movements of those living with the condition. In addition to the sum from the Australian government, Global Kinetics also announced they are to receive a grant from The Michael J Fox Foundation, Shake It Up Australia Foundation and Parkinson’s Victoria. Mark Frasier, senior vice president of research programmes at The Michael J Fox Foundation, said: “The experience of Parkinson’s varies day-to-day, hour-to-hour. An objective tool, such as the wearable PKG technology, that passively collects data on the experience of Parkinson’s disease could give patients and their doctors greater insight to calibrate treatment plans and improve outcomes.”

Smartphone app detects severity of Parkinson’s symptoms

A smartphone app– created by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Rochester Medical Centre and Aston University – can detect the severity of symptoms in people with Parkinson’s, according to a recent study. The study, which appeared in medical journal ‘JAMA’, found that the HopkinsPD app generated severity score levels which strongly correlated with standard movement tests given by physicians. HopkinsPD is expected to help medical professionals analyse Parkinson’s symptoms. Dr Ray Dorsey, neurologist at the University of Rochester, said: “Until these types of studies, we had very limited data on how people function on Saturdays and Sundays because patients don’t come to the clinic. “We also had very limited data about how people with Parkinson’s do at two o’clock in the morning or 11 o’clock at night because, unless they’re hospitalised, they’re generally not being seen in clinics at those times.”